Telegraph and telephone line



(No Model.) I v Q T. N. VAIL.

TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE LINE. No. 279,289. (7W1, Patented June 12,1883.

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" and the supporting frames or racks being in- UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIQ'E.

THEODORE N. 'VAIL, or nos Ton, MASSACHUSETTS.

TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE LINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 279,289, dated June 12, 1883.

Application filed April 10, 1am.

.T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEo. N. VAIL, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Mas sa' chusetts, have invented certain -Improvements in Telegraph and Telephone Lines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the construction of telegraph and telephone lines; and its object is to provide suitable devices whereby comparatively soft and non-tenacious metal wires may advantageously be employed without danger of breakage or of contact with one another.

It is well known to those skilled in the art of telegraphic and telephonic construction that iron has heretofore been almost exclusively used. as a material for line-wire, although its electrical conductivity is not high, being, in fact, but one-sixth of that of a copper wire of the same size. The superior electrical properties of copper wire are and have long been well understood, and for protected wires-such as those used for internal. con struction, for submarine and aerial cables and also for electrical apparatus-eopp er has uniformly been used. For line-wire, however, in spite of the electrical advantages of copper wire, it has until the present time been, neglected, on account of mechanical disadvantages which These are, briefly, its lack of tenacity, its low breaking strain and feeble tensile strength, its excessive stretch, and noirelasticity. Experience has demonstrated that, in telephonic communication more especially, if the foregoing mechanical defects could be counteracted, copper conducting-wires would be very useful, on account of their low specific resistance.

My invention consists in combining with a stout and strong suspending wire or rod of iron or steel a number of light supporting racks or frames upon which any number of copper wires may be strung and supported, the suspending-wire being supported by. posts or poles placed at the usual distance apart,

terposed between the said poles.

In the drawings which illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a front view of one of the sup-- porting-racks. Fig. 2 is a section of line-wire between two poles, Showing the use of my invention; and Fig. 3 is a modification of the insulatedit may be used as a conductor.

same, showing the supporting-line arranged (No model.)

below the rack instead of above, as in Fig. 2. The poles .I. carry the usual cross-ar1ns, c,

fitted with supporting-insulators in the usual k In addition to the cross-arms, the poles wav. also support a strong iron or steel wire, B, which runsfrom pole to pole, and may or may not be insulated. I11 the figure it is shown as being attached to the insulators f, and when so I provide, also, and arrange in any desired number between the poles, light racks or frames made of wood, and consisting, as shown, of a series of cross-arms, b, fixed transversely to an upright, (I. These are hung from the suspendingwire between the poles I, and serve both to support the wires and to prevent them from coming into contact with one another. The smaller wires w it are of copper, or of any suit able alloy thereof, and are fastened to the in sula'tors of both the poles I and racks A; or, if in some cases I preferto dispense with the in sulators, the said wires may be fastened merely to the pins of the said poles and racks. As shown in Fig. 2, the suspendingwire may be supported by the top of the poles and allow the racks Ato fall below it; or it may, as in Fig. 3, be attached to the pole at the lower point, and in such a' case the rack A would be sup ported thereon. If many wires 10 were used, it would be found convenient to support the racks by a heavy wire at both top and bottom, and in the figure the .racks are shown as being provided with holes d, whereby they may be attached to two of such suspending-wires. I may also, if I so elect, use more than one supporting-wire at either top or bottom. I may also construct the racks A with more than one upright a, thus adding strength to the frame.

It will be observed that the racks or frames A and the wires w are mutually dependent, the wires supporting the frames, and the frames both supporting and separating the wires, the whole being supported by and suspended from the heavy steel or iron wire B, which is supported only by the poles.

By my invention I am thus enabled to use copper or other wire of soft or non-tenacious character, but of high, electric conductivity, and as copper has a specific conductivity which is much higher than iron I may use a small and light copper line-wire with as good re sults as would accrue from the use of a much larger iron. or steel eonductor. Moreover, by the use of sueh small wires the weight upon the supports is greatl y diminished, and an infinitely greater number of line-wires may be supported by the same poles than the said 1)( )l es would otherwise be, capable of carrying in practice the suspemling-wire l3 may be of any suitable size-4'01. example, No. *1 gals vanized .ironand the eondueting-wires w are of much smaller gage-and lighter weight, var rying, for example, from No. 14. to No. 20. I do not, however, confine myself herein to any special size or weight, since it is evident that both may be greatly varied without eontraveiling the spirit of my invention, provided always that the suspending-wire is relatively larger and stronp'er than the suspended condutaing-wires.

I am. aware that it has heretofore been proposed t 0 use intermediate suppm'ts tor the linewires between the tixed supports, being suspended i'rom a strong wire or cable. I do not theretbre lay elaim to intermediate supports, broadly.

I: claim l. in a system ot'eleetrieal eommunieation,

series of relatively small eonducting-wires of copper, brass, or other suitable 1ow-resistanee metal or alloy, the said eonducting-wires being supported by and insulated from both main and auxiliary supports, for the purposes specitied. r

In testimony whereof I. have signed my name to this specification, in thepreseneeot'two sul scribing witnesses, this 4th, day of April, 188:

TH 1C0. N. VATIJ. Witnesses:

Flnos. 1). LOt'JIUYOOl), (l no. 'rmyrs Pi icnen. 

